Carver City | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 19, 2009 | |||
Recorded | January 2007 – December 2008 | |||
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Genre | ||||
Length | 41:58 | |||
Label | Roadrunner | |||
Producer | ||||
CKY chronology | ||||
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Singles from Carver City | ||||
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Carver City is the fourth studio album by American alternative metal band CKY. Recorded mainly at guitarist and producer Chad I Ginsburg's Studio CIG Pennsylvania in New Hope, Pennsylvania, it was released on May 19, 2009, by Roadrunner Records. The album reached number 46 on the US Billboard 200, number four on the Hard Rock Albums chart, and number 14 on the Rock Albums chart.
Written by vocalist and guitarist Deron Miller, Carver City is often billed as a concept album about the fictional eponymous town, which is said to be a holiday resort plagued by crime. This has been compared to the band's own fictional storyline of "Hellview". It is the first CKY album to feature bassist Matt Deis, who joined the band shortly after the release of 2005's An Answer Can Be Found , and the last to feature vocalist and guitarist Deron Miller, who left the band in 2011.
The writing and recording of the album took over two years to complete, with internal tensions between band members slowing progress at various points in the process. Carver City was a success both commercially and critically, with reviewers praising the high production values and experimental nature of the songs on the album. "Hellions on Parade" and "A#1 Roller Rager" were released as singles.
Most of the recording for Carver City took place at guitarist and producer Chad I Ginsburg's Studio CIG Pennsylvania in New Hope, Pennsylvania, with additional parts recorded at Studio 4 in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania and 4th Street Recording in Santa Monica, California. [1] The album was mixed at Studio 4 and Studio CIG by Ginsburg and Phil Nicolo, and mastered at Masterdisk in New York City by Howie Weinberg. [1] According to the album's liner notes, recording started in January 2007 and was completed by December 2008. [1]
The production of Carver City was plagued by a number of problems, including disagreements between band members. In October 2007, Ginsburg claimed that Miller had left the band after it was reported that a "physical altercation" had broken about. [2] Miller explained that he had confronted Ginsburg and Margera after he heard them say some "extremely personal, painful things" about him, and that he was considering returning to the group after dealing with his increasing problems with alcohol abuse. [2] After almost a year of inactivity, it was reported in October 2008 that CKY was back together, with Miller claiming that the band was "98% done tracking" Carver City. [3]
Miller reflected on the production process of the album prior to its release, stating that "Sobriety, hard work, patching up inner turmoil and a love for what we do has undoubtedly made this the most collaborative and focused CKY effort to date". [4] He attributed many of the problems to "alcohol and shit talking" and explained that much of the album was recorded by individual band members in isolation, with the group sharing recordings by email. [5]
"Hellions on Parade" was originally titled "Hellview III: Hellions on Parade", "Karmaworks" was originally known as "Karma Works Its Way", "Stripped Your Speech" was originally named "Underappreciated", and other track titles included "Making Contact" and "There's Two of Me". [6] "Plagued by Images" is a reworked version of the song "Dropped", which was recorded back when CKY was still called oiL. In a 2015 interview, Miller claimed that he and Ginsburg began working on an early version of "Afterworld" during sessions for Carver City, but didn't complete the track in time. [7] Additionally, he claimed that bassist Matt Deis wrote at least one song for the album, but that Ginsburg opposed its inclusion as he had not contributed a song as well. [7]
The title and release date of Carver City were confirmed in January 2009, with Ginsburg describing the album as "more inventive and more layered than our past releases, with the most melodies, textures and riffs of any CKY album ... by far the most inspired album we have ever made". [4] The album cover artwork, designed by Travis Smith, was revealed in March. [8] The first song released from the album was lead single "Hellions on Parade", which the band made available for free download in April 2009, [9] before its release later in the month. [10] The full album was streamed exclusively on the website Noisecreep ahead of its release. [11] "A#1 Roller Rager" was released as the second single from the album on May 4. [12]
In promotion of the album CKY toured extensively, beginning with a North American headline tour in June 2009. [13] The group was supported by ASG and Graveyard on the tour, which ran until August and ended with a "hometown show" in Philadelphia. [14] The band continued touring throughout the rest of the year, visiting a number of countries in Europe in November, [15] and later played their first two shows in Japan as part of the Taste of Chaos tour alongside In Flames and Atreyu. [16]
Carver City is the band's first and only album to be released by Roadrunner Records, with whom they signed in December 2006. [17]
The lyrics of the songs on Carver City are largely focused around the story of a fictional town of the same name. Speaking at the time of the album's announcement, primary songwriter Miller offered the following description of the concept: "The fabled town of Carver City has a history of bad luck and misfortune, all the while giving the impression that it's a pleasant family getaway. Much like CKY's town of Hellview, Carver City's events are depicted in the songs, with story lines coming from real-life events." [4] Adding more detail to the concept, it was noted in an interview with the website Noisecreep that the city is named after a fisherman who killed his crew and later returns to "curse the city", leaving residents trapped; Miller has revealed that this is intended to be "pretty symbolic of where we are today with the economy". [5]
The album opens with "Hellions on Parade", which is the third entry in the band's own "Hellview" storyline, which started with Volume 1 's "96 Quite Bitter Beings" and Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild 's "Escape from Hellview". [5] Miller describes Hellview as "a town that doesn't take kindly to outsiders", explaining that "[Hellions on Parade] is about Hellview destroying its rival city". [5]
One of the focal tracks of the Carver City story is said to be "The Boardwalk Body", which was written by Miller based on a true story wherein a dead body was discovered during one of his family holidays in Wildwood, New Jersey. [18] [19] Speaking about the story, the vocalist and guitarist noted that it happened when he was "11 or 12" years old and described it as "a really bizarre period of learning for me". [5] Lana Cooper of the website PopMatters has proposed that the song is a sequel to an earlier track on the album, "...And She Never Returned", in which a young woman goes missing and is never found, presumed to be murdered. [19]
Musically, Carver City has been noted for its experimental nature and difference from the band's previous releases. In his review of the album, AllMusic's Phil Freeman noted the prominence of synthesizers on many of the songs, which with other elements he claimed made the band sound "bizarre ... weird ... [and] unique". [20] Similarly, Cooper of PopMatters claimed that "Carver City finds CKY miles away from the sophomoric sounds of their demos ... as well as that of their last disc, 2005's An Answer Can Be Found. [19] She also highlighted the use of synthesizers on the album, describing that they "add to the eerie atmosphere and sound almost like a second guitar". [19]
Other critics, however, compared Carver City to preceding CKY albums. Blabbermouth.net's review claimed that "this is classic CKY, to the point that most of these songs would fit seamlessly on the band's previous albums", highlighting "Plagued by Images" and "Karmaworks" in particular as reminiscent of the band's older material. [21]
Carver City was the third album released by CKY to register on a music chart, reaching number 46 on the US Billboard 200. [22] The album was also the band's first to chart on the Billboard Hard Rock Albums chart, on which it reached number four, [23] and the Billboard Rock Albums chart, on which it reached number 14. [24] According to Nielsen SoundScan, the album sold approximately 11,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release. [25] According to Miller, as of August 2015 the album has sold over 37,000 copies, making it the lowest-selling CKY studio album. [26]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [20] |
Blabbermouth.net | 7/10 [21] |
Laut.de | [27] |
PopMatters | [19] |
Powermetal.de | 8.5/10 [28] [29] |
Rock Sound | 7/10 [30] |
Ultimate Guitar Archive | 8/10 [31] |
Media response to Carver City was generally positive. Freeman of AllMusic applauded the band for being "smart and unique" on the album, praising elements such as the use of synthesizers and "seriously heavy" guitar riffs, especially on the tracks "Rats in the Infirmary", "Woe Is Me" and "A#1 Roller Rager". [20] Cooper of PopMatters praised the release in comparison to its predecessor, An Answer Can Be Found , by claiming that it "strikes the right mix of theme and variety while offering a much more polished version of the sound that brought them to the dance". [19] She went on to describe the style of the album as akin to "grandiose ‘80s thrash- and power-metal with a modern sensibility", praising the contribution of bassist Matt Deis. [19] Amy Sciarretto of Ultimate Guitar Archive praised the genre-defying and "twist[ing] and turn[ing]" nature of the songs. [31]
Some reviewers did, however, criticise the lack of variety on the album. Blabbermouth.net's review criticised Carver City for featuring many songs which are similar to those released on previous albums, concluding that it has "just a couple too many uninspired songs". [21] Similarly, Rock Sound noted that the album's style was "a familiar realm", but continued by describing it as "better focused, clearer sounding rock". [30]
All tracks are written by Deron Miller, except where noted. [32]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Hellions on Parade" (written by Miller, Chad I Ginsburg and Jess Margera) | 3:40 |
2. | "...And She Never Returned" | 3:31 |
3. | "Rats in the Infirmary" | 3:30 |
4. | "Imaginary Threats" | 3:43 |
5. | "The Boardwalk Body" | 3:39 |
6. | "Plagued by Images" | 3:24 |
7. | "Karmaworks" | 4:05 |
8. | "Woe Is Me" | 3:47 |
9. | "A#1 Roller Rager" | 3:50 |
10. | "Old Carver's Bones" | 4:57 |
11. | "The Era of an End" | 3:52 |
Total length: | 41:58 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
12. | "Fisherman's Wharf, Pt. 1" | 4:15 |
13. | "Fisherman's Wharf, Pt. 2" | 2:56 |
14. | "Doubled Up on Trauma" | 3:27 |
15. | "Stripped Your Speech" | 3:55 |
Total length: | 56:31 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
12. | "Doubled Up on Trauma" | 3:27 |
Total length: | 45:25 |
Chart (2009) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [33] | 98 |
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [34] | 7 |
US Billboard 200 [35] | 46 |
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard) [36] | 4 |
Jesse Margera is an American musician. He is best known as the drummer of the rock band CKY, which he co-founded in 1998. Prior to CKY, Margera performed in the band Foreign Objects with former CKY vocalist and guitarist Deron Miller, and he has since worked with Gnarkill, Viking Skull, The Company Band, Fuckface Unstoppable, and Sovereign Eagle. Margera has also appeared in the CKY video series and the Viva La Bam and Jackass television series alongside his brother Bam.
CKY is an American rock band from West Chester, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1998 by vocalist and guitarist Deron Miller, guitarist Chad I Ginsburg and drummer Jess Margera, the group currently features Margera, Ginsburg, and bassist Ronnie Elvis James. CKY found initial recognition through its contributions to the CKY video series and Jackass TV series, both of which featured Margera's brother Bam.
Deron John Miller is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band CKY, which he co-founded in 1998. Other bands Miller fronts include the progressive metal band Foreign Objects, the melodic death metal band World Under Blood, the death metal band Malevolent Creation, and the alternative metal band 96 Bitter Beings.
An Answer Can Be Found is the third studio album by American rock band CKY. Recorded at studios in California and New York City, it was produced by guitarist Chad I Ginsburg and released on June 28, 2005, by Island Records in North America and Mercury Records in Europe. The album reached number 35 on the US Billboard 200, the highest position achieved by the band to date.
Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild is the second studio album by American rock band CKY. Recorded between November 2001 and February 2002 at studios in Hawaii, Pennsylvania and California, it was produced by the band's lead guitarist and backing vocalist Chad I Ginsburg with lead vocalist and guitarist Deron Miller and released on September 24, 2002, by Island Records. The album was the band's first to chart, reaching number 99 on the US Billboard 200.
Volume 1 is the debut studio album by American rock band CKY. Recorded at The Ground Hog Studios in Holland, Pennsylvania, it was produced, engineered and mixed by guitarist Chad I Ginsburg, and originally released on February 27, 1999, by Distant Recordings and Teil Martin International. Since its initial release under the title Camp Kill Yourself, the album has been reissued a number of times by various record labels with different titles and album covers.
Volume 2 is a compilation album by American rock band CKY. It was released by Distant Recordings and Teil Martin International on February 27, 1999, the same day as the band's debut studio album Volume 1. The album features a number of early demo recordings, as well as skits and samples from the first CKY video, and recordings of prank calls performed by Brandon DiCamillo.
"96 Quite Bitter Beings" is the debut single by American rock band CKY. Written by the band's lead vocalist and guitarist Deron Miller, it was produced by the band's lead guitarist and backing vocalist Chad I Ginsburg and featured as the opening track on the band's 1999 debut studio album Volume 1. The song was also released as the album's only single in 1999. Despite not charting, it is considered to be CKY's most famous song and has been featured on a number of external releases.
"Flesh into Gear" is a song by American rock band CKY. Written by band members Deron Miller, Chad I Ginsburg and Jess Margera, and produced by Ginsburg, it is featured on the band's 2002 second studio album Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild. The song was released as a single in 2002, reaching number 38 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
World Under Blood is an American melodic death metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2006, the band originally featured vocalist and guitarist Deron Miller and drummer Tim Yeung, with bassist Risha Eryavac and guitarist Luke Jaeger completing the four-piece lineup in 2007. The group released its debut album Tactical in July 2011, which featured contributions from guitarist James Murphy.
CKY is an American rock band from West Chester, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1998 by Deron Miller, Chad I Ginsburg and Jess Margera, the group released its first two albums Volume 1 and Volume 2 on Teil Martin/Distant Recordings in 1999, supported by lead single "96 Quite Bitter Beings". After signing with Island/Def Jam, the band followed their debuts up in 2002 with Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild, which was their first release to chart when it reached number 99 on the US Billboard 200 and number 108 on the UK Albums Chart. Lead single "Familiar Realm" reached the US Mainstream Rock top 40. In 2005, CKY issued An Answer Can Be Found and reached number 35 of the Billboard 200, with "Familiar Realm" peaking at number 32 on the Mainstream Rock chart.
"Hellions on Parade" is a song by American rock band CKY. Written by Deron Miller and Chad I Ginsburg, it was featured on the band's 2009 fourth studio album, Carver City. "Hellions on Parade" is the third song in the band's "Hellview" song trilogy, succeeding "96 Quite Bitter Beings" and "Escape from Hellview". It was released as the first single from Carver City on April 20, 2009.
"A#1 Roller Rager" is a song by American rock band CKY. Written by Deron Miller and Chad I Ginsburg, it was featured on the band's 2009 fourth studio album, Carver City. It was released as the second and final single from Carver City on May 4, 2009.
The Autumn Offering was an American metalcore band that formed in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1999. After achieving some degree of local success, the band was signed to Stillborn Records, founded by Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed, in 2003. The band released one album through this label. The Autumn Offering later signed to Victory Records in 2005 and released four studio albums before ceasing activity in 2010.
"Afterworld" is a song by American rock band CKY. Written by Chad I Ginsburg and Deron Miller, it was originally featured on the soundtrack to the 2010 film Jackass 3D, and was later included on the band's 2011 compilation album B-Sides & Rarities. The song is the band's first to feature Ginsburg on lead vocals, and it was released as a single on September 30, 2010.
Chad I Ginsburg, also credited as CiG, is an American musician. He is the guitarist, producer and current vocalist of West Chester-based rock band CKY, which he co-founded in 1998. Prior to CKY, Ginsburg performed in the rock band Rudy & Blitz, and in July 2015, released his debut solo album Rock n Roll Alibis.
B-Sides & Rarities is a compilation album by American heavy metal band CKY. Produced by the band's guitarist Chad I Ginsburg, it was released by Distant Recordings and Mighty Loud on March 22, 2011. The album features a number of previously unreleased tracks, including live recordings and remixes, as well as songs from the 1999 album Volume 2. New song "Afterworld" was released as a single.
Acoustified! is the first solo studio album by American rock musician Deron Miller. Released on December 9, 2013, by Distant Recordings, it features acoustic recordings of songs by Miller's bands CKY, Foreign Objects and Oil, as well as a number of other cover versions. The recording of the album was funded by Indiegogo, and the release was preceded by the single "Dressed in Decay".
The Phoenix is the fifth studio album by American rock band CKY, released on June 16, 2017. It was the band's first album in eight years following Carver City (2009), marking the longest gap between two CKY albums. It is also the first album to feature guitarist Chad I Ginsburg providing lead vocals following the departure of Deron Miller, and the last album to feature bassist Matt Deis before his departure in 2019. Recorded primarily at Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, California, it was produced by Ginsburg as the group's first album on Entertainment One Music.
96 Bitter Beings is an American alternative metal band from Los Angeles. Formed in 2016 by former CKY frontman Deron Miller, the group was originally known as MechaCKY and intended to serve as the vocalist and guitarist's own continuation of the group following his departure in 2011. Miller completed the band's initial lineup with the same three members as had been in the relaunched Foreign Objects – lead guitarist Kenneth Hunter, bassist Shaun Luera and drummer Tim Luera. Later that year, MechaCKY was renamed 96 Bitter Beings, after the CKY song "96 Quite Bitter Beings".
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